


Catra joined the Rebellion AU

by elizabethemerald



Series: She-Ra stories. Gay babies here. [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Sort Of, everyone is happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 21:29:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20181019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elizabethemerald/pseuds/elizabethemerald
Summary: During the conquest of Thaymor Adora asks Catra to leave the Horde and join her. This time Catra accepts and joins the Princess Alliance. They fight together against Hordak, but that doesn't mean that everything is perfect.





	Catra joined the Rebellion AU

**Author's Note:**

> See the end notes for the HCs I have for this AU.  
Sconefacedgirl on tumblr made a post, "pls someone write a catradora fic where they are in love and this whole enemy stuff is just a stupid roleplay pls"  
I took the roleplay prompt a little literally. This isn't quite an everyone is happy AU, but it's an AU where Catra and Adora have been honest with each other about how they each feel. Any challenge they face, they face side by side, hand in hand.

_ Catra looked between the lever that could destroy the world and the girl she had grown up with. Then an evil grin split her face and she grabbed the lever and pulled it towards her.  _

"Catra, no!" Adora said, standing up from her spot at the table. Catra turned to look at her from her own spot standing on the table posing dramatically. “You were supposed to turn away from the lever and free me so we could defeat Hordak together! And then we would kiss as the sun set over Etheria!”

“Nah, I can’t do that!” Catra said, hopping down from the table. “I’m playing a full angst version of myself! I’m a tortured soul! I’ll destroy the world before I go with you! Haven’t you been listening about the badass leather jacket I’m wearing now?”

Catra swaned and posed around the table. Glimmer giggled and Bow groaned. 

“I for one am glad that at least one campaign with you two won’t dissolve into sloppy make-outs between your two characters!” Bow said, his papers in his hands. 

“Our make-outs aren’t sloppy!” Adora cried. “They are ele _ gant _ ,  _ cul _ tured, and re _ fined. _ ”

Glimmer laughed at Adora’s attempts to sound fancy, she always put strange emphasis’ on words when she tried to sound fancy. 

“I think the real reason you’re so happy.” Glimmer said past her laughs. “Is that you have some dark stuff you’ve written and you want the chance to actually be able to make us play it!”

Bow smiled and flipped through the notes he held. He looked at a certain page closely and his smile got even wider. He winked at Glimmer.

“That’s concerning. Let’s get into it shall we?” Adora said. The sword of protection was leaning against the table on her side. 

Bow’s face grew serious and he focused on his writing. His voice took on the resonance of a practiced storyteller. 

_ The portal spins to life, with crackling bolts of power coming off it. The three massive pieces of the gate lift into the air and take their place. Adora you can only watch in horror as the portal opens wider and wider. A white light pours out of the portal and fills the room shutting down all of your senses.  _

Bow looked around, pausing for dramatic effect while the others watched him closely. 

_ Adora you awaken as if from a nightmare. The dream you had fades quickly. Catra is on your chest. _

“Yes! Finally!” Catra cheered. She jumped across the table to land on Adora’s lap, her tail lashing happily and her pupils were dilated. 

“Careful! You could upset the pieces!” Bow said. He fussed for a few seconds over the characters he had made for them all, until Glimmer nudged him. “Oh, right.”

_ Adora you sit up in fear, but you can’t remember why you would be afraid of Catra. She’s been your best friend your entire life.  _

“Damn straight!” Catra said from her spot on Adora’s lap. Adora had her arms around the other girl’s waist, holding her to keep her from slipping off. Bow gave Catra a look then continued. 

_ You two are back in the Frightzone. You are in the same bunk you’ve slept in together since you were children.  _

“Have I ever mentioned how cute that is?” Glimmer asked. Bow glared at her before either of the others could answer. 

“Do you three actually want to play or do you want to keep interrupting me?” Bow said. His arms were crossed and he was holding his notes tighter than was probably necessary. When no one spoke he continued. 

_ Neither of you can remember a time where you had left the Frightzone. Neither of you remember a time where one of you was called to be the She-Ra of Etheria. You are both in the past, and not just the past, but a past that played out differently. You two are the champions of conquest of Thaymor. _

All three of the girls around the table held their breath and leaned forward. None of them wanted to make a noise that might interrupt Bow. The conquest of Thaymor? Where Adora and Catra had decided to abandon the Horde and join the rebellion fighting against Hordak? What had the brilliant Bow come up with?

Bow was about to continue with his story when there was a knock at the door. He threw up his hands in defeat causing his papers to fly everywhere. One of the Brightmoon guards stuck their head in. 

“Commanders, Catra, apologies for the interruption. Commanders, you are needed urgently in the war room.” They said. 

Glimmer teleported immediately to her feet, then out into the hallway. 

“I guess this is as good a spot to stop as any.” Bow muttered as he hurried out of the room into the hall. Catra removed herself from Adora’s lap and leaned against the table they had been playing their game on. She was surprised to see a hand enter her field of view. 

“Catra?” Adora said in the soft voice that was reserved for Catra and Catra alone. “I might need your help in there.”

Catra looked at the hand for a second, then took it, Adora had the sword of protection in her other hand. She and Catra jogged to the war room, hand in hand. Catra watched Adora’s face. The other girl’s mouth was set in a grim line. Before they entered the war room Adora released Catra's hand. 

"For the honor of Grayskull." 

Catra squinted against the aura of her love transforming. She-Ra walked into the war room. Catra followed close behind. 

Entrapta sat on Emily, the robot she had stolen from the Horde, near the entrance. She had multiple holo screens in front of her and she was typing rapidly with both her hair and fingers. 

Projected on the large screen was a shadowy outline. Catra's eyes slid sideways to look at Adora. Only a few of them knew the double agents real identity. It was of the utmost importance that no one in the Horde find out who she was. However She-Ra did not make eye contact with Catra, only staring at the screen. 

"I have good news and bad news to report." Her voice was heavily muffled and changed by the filters Entrapta had put on the com device. "The good news is that the number of deserters is rising daily. The sound systems Entrapta hacked into are working like a charm. Hordak is at the end of his rope trying to find all the speakers and destroy them. And while he's focused on that I'm working on fixing the misinformation the Horde tells its soldiers. Shadow weaver hasn't noticed that I'm changing her files yet."

"And the bad news?" Glimmer asked. She-Ra was leaning on the war table. Catra put one hand on her arm and one on the table. 

"Two deserters were captured trying to escape the Frightzone. They were put on the next transport to Beast Island." 

Catra felt the muscles in the arm under her hand tense. 

"Do you know their names?" She-Ra asked quietly. Catra could hear Adora's voice under there as well. The double agent hesitated. 

"Kyle and Rogelio."

A cracking noise echoed in the small space. Followed shortly by a short, metallic screeching. She-Ra had crushed the edge of the table under her grip, and Catra had dug her claws into it as well. 

"Is Lonnie ok?" Catra asked. 

"I'm keeping Lonnie safe with me." A small hand appeared and waved in the corner of the screen. 

"Keep yourself safe as well. We can't lose you." Catra said barely loud enough to be heard. The informant then attempted to turn of the broadcast. 

“Oops sorry. Small buttons and large claws.” It took a few more attempts before the screen cut out. 

The silence weighed heavily on the room. A shimmer of light announced She-Ra transforming back into Adora. She hung her head, her hands resting in the larger handprints she had put into the table edge. Catra held her softly, leaning her head on the other girl’s shoulder. She knew Adora was struggling to get her tears under control. Adora grabbed one of her hands and gave it a light squeeze before straightening. She coughed, to get everyone’s attention. 

Talk in the room ran in circles. They were sure they were doing everything that could be done to get the soldiers out of the Horde before Hordak caught them. Each of the princesses had wild ideas and plans but there was very little they could do. 

Catra ignored all of them, only joining in the conversation to shoot down particularly terrible ideas. Instead she only focused on Adora. Her friend was forcing down her grief at the loss of their two squad mates. Of course Rogelio and Kyle would leave the Horde together, she was sure they had been hoping to flee to a place where they could be open about their love. It was a shame they had been caught. Hordak was dedicated to hurting as many people as he could. 

When it was clear that Adora was not going to start crying in the meeting and the conversation had started to go over the same ground again, Catra tapped her arm and motioned that she was going to leave. Adora nodded and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before returning her attention to the meeting. 

Entrapta still sat on Emily near the entrance. Though now Catra noticed she had her faceplate down. Entrapta had only been in the Frightzone for a short time before the Princess Alliance was able to free her but it was clear the genius inventor had started to make a few friends among the horde soldiers, prior to her rescue. She turned her head away as Catra approached but she could still see a few drops of tears falling from under her faceplate. 

Catra put out her hand, then hesitated and patted Emily instead. She knew how Entrapta felt about unnecessary touching. Some of Entrapta’s hair reached out and grabbed Catra’s hand and gave it a brief squeeze, though the inventer herself appeared to be focusing completely on her screens. 

It was much later in the day that Catra found herself lying on the bed she shared with Adora and her ears perked up at the sound of someone approaching their room. She stretched out languidly, adjusting the leather jacket she had “found” while the others were in a meeting. Adora opened the door and carefully set the sword of protection down just inside it. 

“Hey Adora.” 

Adora looked up and smiled. "Hey Catra." Her voice was heavy with exhaustion. 

"What do you think of my jacket? I found it laying around."

Rather than answer, or acknowledge the obvious theft, Adora fell face first onto their bed. She turned on her side and and wrapped her arms around Catra's middle pulling her close so her back was to the blonde girl. Catra felt Adora bury her face in her thick hair. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" Catra asked. She felt Adora shake her head. "Well do you at least want to take your shoes off?"

Adora didn't respond only nuzzling her way deeper into Catra's hair. After a few minutes she could feel and hear the other girl crying softly against her. Adora's soft sobs shook her body. 

Catra glanced toward the door, nervously. If Sparkles came in right now...but Adora obviously needed her. She allowed herself to relax in her girlfriend's arms, till she started purring softly. Neither of them knew exactly how Catra was able to purr, but they both knew it always helped Adora feel better. It was something special, that Catra had never told anyone else about. 

Slowly Adora's sobs softened. She relaxed her grip on her love, but kept her face buried in her hair. Once Adora had quieted completely Catra gently pulled away. 

Catra helped Adora out of her red jacket and threw it and her own leather jacket over the arm of the couch. Adora quickly pulled off her boots and got under the covers. Catra laid down on top of the covers right next to her. Her head was on the other girl's chest. 

"Talk to me." Catra whispered. 

“I feel so helpless when I hear reports like that.” Adora whispered back. “The Horde is falling apart. The alliance is retaking land the Horde used to control. We are defending our borders from Hordak’s counter attacks. More and more soldiers are deserting every day. We’re winning this war. We’re just not winning it fast enough.”

Catra couldn’t think of anything to say to that. She was pretty sure the Rebellion was already at its limit of what it could do and sustain. Even her personal brand of chaos wouldn’t help here. 

“How long do you think it took Rogelio to convince Kyle to leave the Frightzone?” Catra asked instead. 

Adora snorted. “How long do you think before Kyle accidentally set off an alarm once he did?”

Catra gave a short laugh, then quieted. “And now Hordak is shipping them off to Beast Island to die.”

“Hmm.” Adora tapped her fingers idly on Catra’s shoulder. “What if Beast Island wasn’t a death sentence?”

“What?”

“What if we could rescue the Horde soldiers who get sent to Beast Island before they are killed. Then Hordak would be basically delivering the deserters straight to us.”

“What are you thinking, Adora?” Catra sat up more and looked Adora in the eye.

“So much of what they told us in the Frightzone was just filled with lies. Like what the princesses were really like, what the rest of the world was like. And even the things that weren’t outright lies were some times just plain wrong. Like what they said about the Crimson Waste.”

“Maybe so, but even the princesses don’t have any more information about Beast Island.” Adora didn’t respond, she was still thinking. So Catra kept talking. “So what’s the plan? We get the princesses together and storm Beast Island?”

“No. The princesses are a little...hard to control all together. And if something bad happens to us, we can’t deprive every kingdom of their biggest protection. That would ensure the Horde’s victory.”

“Then should I go get Bow and Sparkles and we can roll out with Best Friend Squad?” Catra struggled to keep the derisiveness out of her voice. 

Adora lifted her head to look at the sword near the door. “Actually I think this might be a job for just She-Ra.”

Catra immediately threw Adora’s arm off her and changed her position so she was sitting on her chest her hands pining Adora’s shoulders down. She let her hair fall, creating a curtain around their faces. 

“Adora I love you so much, but if you don’t stop being so stupid for ten minutes I will throw you into the sun.”

Adora could stare up at Catra in confusion. She was unable to form sentences with her girlfriend on top of her. 

“Obviously anywhere you go, I’m going too.” Catra said. 

“Catra, I-”

“I am going with you. I’ve never left your side. I left the Horde with you. I joined this silly princess procession with you. The two of us can scope out Beast Island, conquer the island, and put a resort there, so Hordak personally delivers our old friends to us. But I am going to go with you.”

Adora managed to nod past her growing blush.Once Catra was sure her love wouldn’t go off and do something stupid by herself, she kissed her. Maybe a little more forcefully than necessary, but Adora didn’t complain, only kissed her back just as forcefully. 

After their kisses, Adora fell asleep, her arms once again wrapped around Catra’s body. Catra sat awake for a long time, glaring at the Sword of Protection. 

**Author's Note:**

> Head canons for this AU:  
First off Kyle and Rogelio are NOT dead. I do not bury my gays. They are alive and awaiting rescue on Beast Island.  
At the battle of Thaymor Adora manages to convince Catra to switch sides. Angela and the others are resistant to take her in. But Angela realizes how messed up what the Horde does to these kids is. She creates healing centers all around Brightmoon so deserters can recover from the Frightzone and she helps them over come their brainwashing.  
Scorpia switched sides as well but now serves as a double agent, helping fix the misinformation of the horde. She feels guilty for her family's part in welcoming the Horde. She doesn't want the soldiers under her command to die for that.  
Catra still isn't accepted to the degree Adora is. Mostly because Adora is also She-Ra, and because Catra is a sarcastic, abrasive, chaotic lesbian who only cares about three people in her life. Adora, Entrapta and Scorpia. Her squad is right below those three. Everyone else falls away rapidly.  
Catra also hates the Sword of Protection. She's not stupid and can see that her and Adora's lives are better for it, but she can also see the way Adora is constantly crushed by the weight of the responsibility. She fears the sword will one day take her love from her, just like how Mara was eventually killed because of it.  
The roleplay is a game Angela created to help the former Horde Soldiers, and all the child soldiers face and overcome their trauma to help them heal. With all these kids clearly in danger from the brainwashing of the Horde she is able to overcome her fear and be braver, flying around the county treating deserters.  
Entrapta was captured by the Horde instead of Glimmer. She was there for a little while but the princesses were able to free her. In that time she was able to become almost friends with several soldiers, including Scorpia, Kyle, Rogelio, Lonnie, (and maybe Hordak. haven't decided yet.)


End file.
